Bath & Body Works Candles - Are They Worth the Price?

There's a Bath & Body Works store at the mall that smells fantastic whenever I get anywhere near it, but believe it or not up until recently I'd never actually gone inside. My daughter-in-law is a huge fan of their products and her house smells wonderful, so, I decided to finally try some BBW candles for myself.

© Bath & Body Works

© Bath & Body Works

After wandering around in the store for a bit, sniffing candles, and cutting my finger on a shelf sign (that's another story) I settled on two candles to start with - one Praline Pecan Cobbler, the other London Tea & Lemon.  They were running a two for $24 deal, so it was a good way to try them out before going wild with my candle purchases. Here's what I think:

The Pros:

The Praline is AWESOME. The scent is amazing, yet not overpowering. I have the Praline candle sitting on the kitchen table and the front of the house smells like I've been baking for days.

The smell of the London Tea & Lemon isn't nearly as wonderful. It has an okay aroma, but I don't think it smells either lemony or tea-like. I lit it briefly and haven't lit it again since.

The Cons:

The labels state these candles will burn for 25 - 45 hours. I'm trying to figure out what might cause the variation in burn time. Anyone know? I can say that I've had the Praline lit for a fair amount of hours (but no where near 45) and the wax has burned down quite a bit...to the point that two of the wicks seem to be perpetually under melted wax and keep going out. The melted wax surface looks a little funky. Kind of a burned maple syrup look. I'm going to have to say that they don't last nearly as long as they state they do.

The ingredient label lists that the candles are made of "a patented blend of vegetable wax", which leaves me to wonder if this means they're a mix of vegetable wax and something else - possibly paraffin wax? Obviously, I don't know for sure.

Most of us know that paraffin wax is made from toxins and aren't exactly good for us or the environment. Again, I do not know if there is any amount of paraffin in these candles and I'm certainly not saying there is. I'd just like to be sure that there isn't.

However, I can't seem to find a definite answer where BBW candles are concerned. I've searched high and low in an attempt to narrow down what "a patented blend of vegetable wax" actually means, but haven't been able to find out. I've sent an email to the company and am awaiting a response.

I can only assume that if BBW candles are 100% vegetable wax, rather than some sort of blend, they'd state this on the label. At least the wicks are lead-free - although they didn't exactly do this of their own free will. The Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lead-based wicks back in 2003.

My Conclusion:

I know Bath & Body Works has tons of loyal scented candle fans, but I'm just not convinced.

Although the Praline candle smells delicious, I think these BBW candles are a little pricey when you consider the varying burn time. And since they say they're made from a "vegetable wax blend" and don't clearly state what else is blended along with it, I'm staying away from them for now until I can get a real answer and I'll stick with either natural soy or beeswax.

3 of 5 Stars, Review by Susan Barton